This month, Israel is set to open the first stage of a planned 2,000-acre urban park in Tel Aviv on the former site of what has been, for decades, the country's biggest environmental health hazard. Named for the late former prime minister, Ariel Sharon Park will be Israel's largest urban park when the $250-million project is completed in 2020. Rendering Courtesy Of Ariel Sharon Park Co. Israel’s biggest municipal dump is being transformed into the country’s largest urban park. Work on the public-private effort involves transforming the Hiriya landfill site and surrounding floodplain into a recreational site. It was built

The Israeli government is planning an estimated $800-million expansion of the 140-kilometer Cross-Israel Highway, the country’s sole north-south toll road. A joint committee of ministry representatives has issued a request for proposals for two extensions totaling 20.5 km, including 3.7 km of tunnels. Photo: TEDEM Civil Engineering Two planned extensions to the Cross-Israel highway, the country’s first toll road, will add 20.5 kilometers and three tunnels to its 140-km length. The highway’s original $1-billion segment, designed to allow drivers to bypass the congested Tel Aviv metropolitan area and substantially reduce north-south travel times, opened in 2001. “This is one of

Gas supplies to Israel are set to resume this month from a field in Egypt’s northern Sinai desert after a Feb. 5 pipeline explosion that was believed to be terrorist-generated. But Israel’s national infrastructure ministry has decided to fast-track a proposed $300-million liquified-natural-gas project off the country’s central Mediterranean coast as part of an effort to diversify its sources of supply. Photo: AP Worldwide Feb.5 Explosion Of Egyptian Gas Pipeline, Allegedly By Saboteurs, Has Cut Off Exports To Israel. Israel Natural Gas Lines, a state-owned utility, has issued a request for information for the project’s infrastructure. Egypt supplies 40% of

After years of discussion, Israel’s Transportation Ministry finally is proceeding with plans to build an estimated $700-million high-speed railway to the southern port of Eilat, the country’s largest resort and a major port for shipments to and from the Far East. The ministry now seeks expressions of contractor interest in the project. Israel already has invested several billion dollars in recent years in national rail projects as part of a government effort to upgrade the country’s infrastructure. In November, the ministry announced a multibillion-dollar plan for additional upgrades as well as new rail lines and roads. The ministry plans a

The anticipated Nov. 30 opening of Israel’s longest tunnel marks the end of four years of construction and more than a decade of controversy. But completion of the 6.5-kilometer-long Carmel Tunnels, a $300-million build-operate-transfer highway project, will vastly improve traffic flow in the port city of Haifa and is the first major project in Israel for a Chinese contractor. Photo: Courtesy Of Carmelton Group Ltd. Photo: Courtesy Of Carmelton Group Ltd. Carmel Tunnels near Haifa during early construction will speed traffic flow in Israel’s third-largest city and was the country’s first major infrastructure collaboration with China. The project, involving major

An Israeli-Russian joint venture has won the latest chunk of work on Israel’s $1-billion high-speed rail line that will connect Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Minrav Engineering and Construction Ltd., Ashdod, and underground contractor Moscow Metrostroy won the estimated $130-million contract from project owner Israel Railways. The contract, not yet officially awarded, will involve construction of two parallel 3.5-kilometer tunnels and other work. Site preparation is set to begin later this year, with tunneling to start within a year, officials say. The project involves construction of 38 km of double track from Ben Gurion International Airport east of Tel Aviv to

Israel’s IDE Technologies is set to win a contract worth more than $100 million to build four additional thermal desalination units at a Tianjin, China, powerplant that will become the country’s largest desal complex when completed. The Kadima-based firm beat out France’s SIDEM, India’s VA Tech Wabag Ltd. and several Chinese companies for the award from Tianjin SDIC, the Chinese powerplant owner. IDE will supply the multi-effect distillation desal units to double production of desalinated water to a total capacity of 200,000 cu meters a day. Photo Courtesy Ide Technologies Facility in Tianjin, China, will become the country’s largest desalination

The joint tenders committee of Israel’s National Infrastructure and Finance Ministries has issued an international prequalifiying tender for an offshore liquefied-natural-gas receiving terminal. The build-own-transfer tender is one of the largest issued in recent years by the by the State of Israel. The target date set for the operation of the terminal is October 2013. The decision to proceed with the terminal is part of the government’s policy to guarantee natural gas supplies to the local economy which has been rapidly switching to gas in recent years. “The tender is for the construction, operation and maintenance of the LNG terminal

Facing an unprecedented water crisis, Israel is speeding up plans to desalinate even larger amounts of seawater than it had already planned. The National Infrastructure and Finance Ministries say in early January they will issue a build-operate-transfer tender for the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in the world, to be built 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. In an effort to speed up the construction of other badly needed plants, the Israeli government has also decided to exempt state utility Mekorot Water from the usual tender process for its planned 100 mcm desalination plant at Ashdod. The government has also